October 17, 2018

Democrats may be wary of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in other parts of the country, but she’s welcome in South Florida.

With the midterm elections just weeks away, Parkland students and parents convened Wednesday with Pelosi in Coral Springs to game plan for November. The round table discussion focused on gun control, moderated by U.S. Rep Ted Deutch, was equal parts emotional venting and strategizing.

Pelosi called the activists and parents a “blessing to our country,” and said because of the energy coming out of Parkland, the issue of gun control would top the Democratic Party’s agenda in the House of Representatives if they take control.

“I admire you so much,” she said. “You have the purpose, the generosity of spirit. You have the marchers — you have people who will go out there to make a difference — and you just have a relentless, persistent, dissatisfied approach.”

October 05, 2018

Last month, the mayor of Hallandale Beach, Keith London, bizarrely accused fellow commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub of profiting from bleaching her sphincter, causing public outrage and series of #MeToo posts on social media. Now, Lima-Taub is the one under fire for apparently comparing the mayor to Adolf Hitler during Wednesday night’s regularly scheduled commission meeting.

Both the mayor and Lima-Taub are Jewish, so did the commissioner really compare the mayor to Hitler? The vice mayor says yes. She and the mayor are offended. Lima-Taub says absolutely not.

Whatever the interpretation, the commissioner did throw out the names Hitler and Fidel Castro in her comments focused on London. Here’s what happened.

The first item on the Wednesday night agenda was a proclamation, sponsored by London, to make October 2018 Domestic Violence Awareness month in Hallandale Beach. During her opening comments, Lima-Taub called London “the biggest, most corrupt criminal to ever grace the city” and said the mayor’s domestic violence proclamation a was a “joke” before making the following statement:

“A man who sat here a month ago and dared to talk about my private parts, sponsoring a proclamation for domestic violence. Wow. That’s like Hitler having a proclamation for Jews. Or Fidel Castro having freedom day for Cubans.”

Moments later, Vice Mayor Michele Lazarow and Commissioner Mike Butler got up from the dais. That meant the commission no longer had a quorum and the meeting had to halt until they returned. Lazarow later called the commissioner’s comments “disgusting” and demanded a public apology.

“I know you don’t like the mayor, and I know that he has made inappropriate comments and remarks for which he has apologized. As a Jew, to listen to you sit here and compare anyone to Hitler makes me sick to my stomach,” Lazarow said toward the end of the meeting.“There was one Hitler. Only one. Hitler murdered millions of innocent people. Murdered millions of innocent people. No one is like Hitler. There is one Hitler. The worst in our society are not like Hitler.”

February 14, 2018

Democrats representing Broward County and South Florida seethed Wednesday over congressional inaction on firearms, hours after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland left 17 people dead. It was the second time in just over a year that Florida’s second-most populous county experienced a major mass shooting.

But while Democrats demanded action, Republicans generally avoided calling for legislative change, at least in the immediate aftermath.

“I said a little prayer, for all of them, then the next thought that popped into my head was, do we have to go through this again?” Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson said. “Look how many of these mass shootings have occurred and we say enough is enough and then nothing is done. Here in the Senate we cannot even get Senator [Dianne] Feinstein’s bill that would prohibit people on the terrorist watch list from buying a gun.”

Rep. Ted Deutch, a Boca Raton Democrat who represents Parkland in Washington, choked up during an interview as he waited for a flight home. He said he spoke at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School just a few weeks ago.

“I have a picture of an adorable six year old who was killed at Sandy Hook whose father gave me that picture so I can remember every day why were working so hard to try to reduce gun violence,” Deutch said. “Everyone cares about safe communities. I shouldn’t need a mass shooting in my district to give me legitimacy to talk about why we need to prevent more mass shootings but I guess that’s the sad reality.”

Florida state Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat who represents northern Broward County in Tallahassee, said “This country and its elected leaders collectively have failed our children.”

August 30, 2017

Acknowledging the painful legacy of slavery and the Civil War, Hollywood commissioners decided Wednesday to rename three streets honoring Confederate generals that for the better part of a century have run through a predominantly black city neighborhood.

After more than five hours of fervent and often tense debate, the City Commission voted5-1 to rechristen Forrest, Hood and Lee streets, though their new names have yet to be determined.

“This is about what the meaning of community is,” Mayor Josh Levy said. “We don’t endorse hate. We don’t endorse symbols of hate. What hurts you, hurts me. It should hurt all of us.”

Levy, Commissioners Kevin Biederman, Dick Blattner, Debra Case and Linda Sherwood voted in favor. Vice Mayor Traci Callari voted against. A five-vote super-majority was required for approval. Case was out of town and attended the meeting by phone. Commissioner Peter Hernandez walked off the dais in a huff just before the vote, accusing his colleagues of violating procedure.

Hernandez and Callari said residents of the three streets should have gotten a chance to vote on the changes, something the commission opposed last month. Hernandez also suggested the city was acting with hypocrisy by not renaming other Hollywood streets also thought to be named after Confederates.

“I can’t support cherry-picking, and I can’t support the process, the way it was done,” he said.

A lone man holding a large Confederate flag was hauled away in handcuffs Wednesday near Hollywood City Hall after he charged — flag first — at demonstrators urging commissioners to rename three local streets, including one honoring a founder of the Ku Klux Klan.

Moments earlier, the man, whom police identified as 22-year-old Christopher Rey Monzon of Hialeah, had engaged in a screaming match against some of the protesters.

“The white man made this country!” he said. “You’re lucky to be here. Florida is my home, and I will defend it.”

At first, he had stood silently by, giving media interviews as protesters holding ”Take Them Down” signs quietly stared at him. A scrum of police officers awaited nearby, ready to defuse any tension.

“These socialists are destroying our history,” he told the Herald, saying the fact that he was the only white nationalist present gave him “stronger resolve.” He gave his name as “Chris Cedeno” and said he was from Hialeah Gardens.

Then, after the shouts, the man broke yellow police tape as he lunged at protesters, said one of them, Cindy Thompson. Police took him down and ripped the flag from his hands. He was later charged with disorderly conduct, aggravated assault and inciting a riot.

“It’s pretty sad we live in a world where this still happens,” Thompson said.

About 150 people had begun gathering under the noontime sun to protest Forrest, Hood and Lee streets, which run through the predominantly black Hollywood neighborhood of Liberia.

Sometime after 4 p.m., commissioners are scheduled to vote on renaming the streets, christened in the 1920s after Gen. Robert E. Lee, who led the Confederate Army; Gen. John Bell Hood, a commander in the Battle of Gettysburg, and Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate lieutenant general said to be the Klan’s first grand wizard.

August 18, 2017

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s former information technology aide and his wife have been indicted on bank fraud charges.

A grand jury late Thursday returned an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charging Imran Awan and his wife, Hina Alvi, of Lorton, Virginia, on four counts: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on a loan or credit application and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions.

Awan, 37, previously had been charged in a criminal complaint with one count of bank fraud. The indictment expanded on the charges and also added Alvi, 33, as a defendant.

The indictment states that Awan and Alvi conspired to obtain home equity lines of credit for $165,000 and $120,000 from a credit union on two properties. They provided false information that the properties were Alvi’s principal residence and second home when they actually rented out the homes. Then, they transferred the proceeds to Pakistan.

August 15, 2017

Officers responding to a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in January failed to coordinate and communicate effectively in the aftermath of the incident, causing havoc at the airport, according to a new report.

On Tuesday, Broward County released a report by a consultant who examined the response by law enforcement, airport and county workers to the Jan. 6 mass shooting that left five people dead and stranded about 12,000 people at the airport for several hours.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, county officials including airport director Mark Gale defended their response to the shooting while also agreeing with recommendations for security improvements outlined in the report.

“Some will take weeks, some will take months, some will take longer but we intend to stay vigilant until all of these recommendations have been addressed,” he said.

Broward County Commissioners will hold a closed-door meeting Tuesday review a consultant's report about the Jan. 6 mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport but it is unclear when the report will be released to the public.

County commissioners will hold a shade meeting at 10 a.m. to discuss the report followed by a news conference at 2 p.m. where county, airport and law enforcement officials will discuss the report prepared by consultant Ross & Baruzzini for Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Under Florida's Sunshine law, the county can meet in private to discuss security at county facilities.

"The report is currently under review by Federal Authorities," airport spokesman Greg Meyer said. "We are hopeful that they will give us approval to release it in advance of the news conference."

A separate draft report by the Broward Sheriff's Office found poor communication by BSO and the Broward County Aviation Department, along with other mistakes, contributed to the chaos which left 12,000 passengers trapped in the airport for several hours. County officials disputed some of the allegations in the report.

The consultant's report is expected to include security recommendations which commissioners can use when they set the annual budget in September. Broward Sheriff Scott Israel is expected to join Mayor Barbara Sharief and airport director Mark Gale at the press conference.

Law enforcement apprehended Esteban Santiago in less than two minutes, but more chaos occurred about 90 minutes later amid a false report about another shooting.

August 10, 2017

The Broward County Commission will hold a shade meeting to discuss security at county locations on Tuesday.

The meeting notice doesn't provide any details about which county locations will be discussed but security is a hot topic at two county locations: the courthouse and the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport. Broward Sheriff Scott Israel will attend the meeting with county commissioners. Governmental bodies are allowed to hold closed-door meetings about security.

In July 2016, an inmate escaped the Broward County courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale. A Sun Sentinel review of internal investigations of the Broward Sheriff's Office found that the inmate took advantage of security flaws to escape. The escape added fire to the ongoing fight between the Broward Sheriff's Office and the county about security at the courthouse, including the new courthouse which opened months later.

A Jan. 6 mass shooting at the airport which left five people dead has also led to a fight between BSO and the county about airport security.

The county hired a consultant earlier this year to write a report about the shooting which could lead to security recommendations before the commission sets the annual budget in September.

The Broward Sheriff's Office released it's own draft report in June about the shooting. That report stated that poor communication by the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the Broward County Aviation Department, along with other mistakes, led to mass chaos for the estimated 12,000 people trapped at the airport. Airport officials disputed some conclusions in the BSO report.

It's unclear when the county's report or BSO's final report will be completed.

The SEIU union, which represents many airport workers, released it's own security recommendations Thursday calling for more training for airport workers.

Esteban Santiago, who was charged in the shooting, is scheduled for trial in January.

August 07, 2017

A well-known Republican lawyer will challenge U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in 2018, the first time she has faced a credible Republican opponent in the overwhelmingly left-leaning district in South Florida.

Carlos J. Reyes announced to supporters in an email Sunday night that he will run against the Weston Democrat in his first bid for public office in the district. (Hat tip to browardbeat.com.)

“Being the son of Cuban immigrants and many years in community service have taught me the values of hard work and tenacity,” Reyes stated in a press release Monday, the day he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run in the Weston to northern Miami-Dade district. “As a strong advocate for programs that focus on faith, family and freedom, I’ve heeded the encouragement of hundreds of friends, family and community leaders that the time is right to run for United States Congress.”

In November, Hillary Clinton won about 63 percent of the vote in the district making any challenge by a Republican a longshot. Reyes said part of his strategy should he win the Republican primary will be to appeal to independents who represent about 30 percent of voters in the district. Republicans comprise about 25 percent of the voters while Democrats comprise 45 percent.

Reyes' announcement comes at a time when Wasserman Schultz has been on the defense about waiting to fire an IT worker under federal investigation. While many other Democrats fired Imran Awan amid news reports in February that he was under investigation for procurement theft, Wasserman Schultz waited to fire Awan until he was arrested in July for bank fraud. The federal criminal complaint against Awan relates to an application for a home loan and makes no mention of any IT-related issues connected to his job working for multiple members of Congress. Awan has pleaded not guilty and awaits a preliminary hearing Aug. 21.

The Awan case will likely become attack fodder for Wasserman Schultz's opponents during the next year -- her primary opponent Tim Canova has been on Fox News attacking Wasserman Schultz for how she handled the case.

Reyes told the Miami Herald that he isn't focused on the Awan case.

"She is going to have to deal with it however she feels is most appropriate," Reyes said. As for the allegations against Awan, "they may go somewhere -- they may not."

He said he is focused on other issues such as the economy, terrorism and health care. When asked if he believes Obamacare should be repealed, Reyes didn't provide a definitive answer.

"The Affordable Care Act is challenged financially -- it will crumble by it's own weight by the fact that so many insurance companies are dropping out," he said.

Democratic and Republican opponents face an uphill battle against Wasserman Schultz who has easily beat challengers for more than a decade.

In August, she beat Canova, a Nova Southeastern University law professor, by about 14 percentage points several weeks after she stepped down as Democratic National Committee chair amid the release of emails by Wikileaks showing the DNC favored Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

In November, Wasserman Schultz beat Republican Joe Kaufman 57 to 41 percent -- the closest margin any Republican achieved against her. But Kaufman, who is running again, is not seen as a major threat because he has lost to Wasserman Schultz twice in a row and is most famous for being lampooned on The Daily Show for trying to block a Muslim from joining the Broward Republican Executive Committee.

Also running in the GOP primary is Carla Spalding, a Navy veteran, former VA nurse and a mental health educator. In 2016 Spalding ran as an independent in Congressional District 18 and won about 3 percent of the vote in the race won by Republican Brian Mast. Spalding lives in Palm Beach Gardens but her campaign says she will move to a rental home in the district in September.

Among all of the past and present Republican challengers, Reyes is the most well-known opponent and likely has the strongest ability to fundraise.

He is well-known in business, law and Republican circles in Broward and has held many community leadership positions including an appointment by then Gov. Jeb Bush to the South Broward Hospital District. The Miami-born Davie resident owns a commercial and civil litigation law firm in Plantation.

Reyes' connections will give him a good place to start in terms of fundraising, said Chip LaMarca, the lone Republican on the Broward County Commission.

"He has at a minimum to shoot for at least $1 million, a million and a half to get his message out in that district," LaMarca said.

Aaron Nevins will manage Reyes' campaign. Nevins is a political operative who asked for information from Guccifer 2.0, the hacker that stole information from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The Wall Street Journal reported that Nevins was the author behind HelloFLA.com, a political gossip blog where he published some of the documents. Nevins, who also worked for state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, is also the son of Buddy Nevins, author of the browardbeat.com blog.

Reyes will hold an announcement rally Aug. 29 at the Signature Grand in Davie.

Wasserman Schultz declined to comment through her spokesman David Damron.